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C. P. SHARR'ER.

RAILWAY RAIL SPLIGE. No. 349,958. Patented Sept. 28, 1886.

WITNESEES: Inn/ENTER: AQAQQLA fam/A 'Jl/" j NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES l?. SHARRER, OF SYRAOUSE, NFV YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONlilIIALF TOEDVIN H. OROLY, OF SAME PLACE.

RAILWAY-RAIL SPLICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 349,958, datedSeptember 28, 1886.

Application tiled .Tune 28, 1886. Serial No. 206,462.

T @ZZ whom, it may concern.- l Beit known that I, GHARLEs I. SHARRER, ofSyracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of N ew York, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Railway-Rail Splices, of whichthe following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a.full, clear, and exact description.

rIhis/invention has reference to that class of rail-spliees in which afish-plate on one side of the meeting ends of the rails has rigidly'affixed to it lugs or tenons formed dovetail at their extremities andprojecting through mortises in the stems ofsaid rails` and a iishplateon the opposite side of the rails is provided with a dovetaillongitudinal groove and slipped endwise over the protruding ends of thetenons, and with the latter entered into the aforesaid groove.

In order to permit of tightening the hold of the said tish-plate on therails, it has hitherto been deemed necessary to make the flanges of thelng or tenon wedge-shaped, and to provide the grooved fish-plate withtapering jaws and ilanges for the purpose of drawing the two fish-platestoward each other and tightening the same against opposite sides of therails. This Construction, however, is very expensive, as it is difficultto either cast, forge, or swage the plates with their aforesaid taperingor wedging parts, and iu drivingI the groovcd plate so as to tighten iton the tongues or tenons of the other plate the former is liable to beeither battered up on the driving end or split longitudinally along thegroove, which latter weakens the plate along its longitudinal centrailine.

The object of this invention is to simplify the construction ofthelislrplates, and to provide cheap, convenient, and effective means fortightening the hold of said plates ou the rails spliced thereby; and tothat end my invention consists in the combination, with the railsprovided with orifices through their stems, of a straight ishplate onone side of the rails having affixed to it dovetailed tenons formedlongitmlinally straight and parallel with said plate, a straightfish-plate on the opposite side of the rails provided with a dovetailedlongitudinal groove formed likewise longitudinally straight and parallelwith the plate, and a (No model.)

wedge provided with longitudinal slots and inserted endwise between thegrooved plate and stems of the rails, all as hereinafter fullydescribed, and specifically set forth in the claim.

In the annexed drawings, Figure l is a side View of my invention. Fig. 2is a side view of the rails without the splicing-plates. Fig. 3 is adetached isometric view of one of the splicing-plates. Fig. 4 is atransverse section 6o of my invention, and Fig. 5 is a detachedisometric view of the wedge by means of which the hold of thesplicing-plates is tightened.

R R represent the meeting ends of two rails to be spliced together. Theend portions of said rails I provide each with one or more ori frees ormortises, a a, through the stem thereof.

A and B designate the splicing-plates of the species usually denominatedfish plates. Both of said plates are perfectly straightlongt 7otudinally. rIhe plate A, I provide on the side adjacent-to the rails R Bwith dovetailed tenons f t, distributed over the length of the plate inthe same relative positions as the orifices or mortises a a a a of thetwo rails to be spliced. Said tenons are of such dimensions as to allowthem to project th rough the aforesaid orifices or mortises when theplateA is placed against the side ofthe end portions ofthetwo rails. Thetenons t tare perfectly straight longitudinally 8o and parallel with theplate A. rlhe plate B,

I provide on the side adjacent to the rails with a longitudinaldovetailed groove, l), which eX- tends through the end of the plate, andis longitudinally straightand parallel with theplate, 8 5 and of properdepth and width to allow the plate to be slipped endwise over thetenonsrl. and closely embrace the top and bottom of the dovetailedportion of said tenons by the top and bottom sides of the groove b, asillustrated 9o in Fig. 4c ofthe drawings. The engagement of thedovetailed groove b with the dovetailed tenons 'f f serves to securelytie the two plates together.

yw denotes a wedge, which is provided with longitudinal slots s s, ofgreater length than the tenons tt. This wedge I place with its thin endonto the protruding tenons tt before applying the grooved plate B, andafter thelatter is slipped onto the tenons I drive the wedge roo fromits large end endwise until it becomes secure! y set or fastened in itsposition, thereby el'l'ectually tightening the plates A and B againstopposite sides of the rails. When the wedge is made of steel, I preferto curve it longitudinally, as shown in the drawings, so as to cause itto act as a spring and guard against excessive strain on the plates Aand B when driving said Wedge.

The described {ish-plates I provide with additional holds on the railsand with bearings' on the cross-ties by forming them. with wide ilangesc c, which project from the bottom of the tish-plates and lie closelyagainst the top and side edges of the base of the rails, and terminatelush with the under side of said base. The edge of the ange c, I providewith a notch or notches, through which to drive a spike or spikes intothe snbjacent cross-tie. The head of the spike, bearing on top of theflange c, holds the splice firmly on the tie.

I'donotclaim, broadly,the combination,with the rails having orificesthrough them, of fishplates on opposite sides of said rails and providedwith interlocking tongues and grooves, as I am aware the same is notnew; Vbut Vhat I do claim as my invention ise The combination, with therails provided with the orifices a a a a, of the straight plate A,having aflixed to it the dovetailed tenons tt, formed longitudinallystraight and parallel with said plate, the straight plate B, provided 3owith the dovetailed groove b, formed likewise longitudinally straightand parallel with the plate, and the Wedge w, provided with the1ongitudinal slots s s, and inserted endwise between the plate B and.stems of the adjacent 55 end portions of the rails, substantially asdescribed and shown. In tcstimony'whereof I have hereunto signed mynaine and affixed my seal, in the presence of two attesting witnesses,at Syracuse, in the 4o county of Onondaga, in the State of New York,this 26th day of June, 1886.

Witnesses:

FREDERICK H. Giens, C. BENDIXON.

